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The transfer window represents a great avenue for football clubs to strengthen their squad. Clubs often splash the cash in the transfer market to reinforce their ranks and thereby improve their chances in the upcoming season.
This summer transfer window has been quite an exciting and entertaining one. Many clubs opted to tread the summer with caution due to the financial strain caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Several teams were hit so hard that they had to part with some of their best players in order to balance their books.
As we all know by now, the Premier League is the most followed league in the world. This also means that English top-flight clubs are usually much better placed in a financial sense than the rest. So it's never a surprise when a Premier League club decides to break the bank to land their targets during a transfer window.
Giant Premier League clubs have the freedom to spend without being too bothered about their net expenditure. This is because they can make up for the deficit elsewhere. But it's not just Premier League clubs that populate this list. Without further ado, let's take a look at the five clubs with the worst transfer balance this summer.
#5 Paris Saint-Germain (-€74 million)
Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain have a net spend of -€74 million this summer. But that's a small price to pay for the kind of personnel they've been able to rope in as free agents. PSG needed to strengthen at right-back and they spent €60 million on Achraf Hakimi, who is one of the most promising full-backs in the world.
They also made permanent the signing of Danilo Pereira from FC Porto for a sum of €16 million. But PSG signed the likes of Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos and Georginio Wijnaldum on free transfers. They also spent €7 million to sign Nuno Mendes on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
The French giants sold Mitchell Bakker for €7 million and shipped goalkeeper Alphonse Areola out on loan to West Ham United for a loan fee of €2 million. In total, Paris Saint-Germain only spent €74 million but strengthened their ranks considerably this summer.
#4 Manchester City (-€88.7 million)
Manchester City won the Premier League and the League Cup in the 2020-21 season. The Cityzens also made it to the final of the Champions League last term. They have one of the strongest squads in Europe and it didn't really require much of a touch up but they went and got reinforcements anyway.
Manchester City signed Jack Grealish for a record €117.5 million. They also added 18-year-old winger Kayky from Fluminese for €10 million. Manchester City recouped €38.8 million through player sales as well. They made Angelino's move to RB Leipzig permanent for €18 million.
Jack Harrison has been permanently sold to Leeds United for €12.8 million and Lukas Nmecha was sold for €8 million.
#3 AS Roma (-€95.5 million)
AS Roma appointed Jose Mourinho as their new manager in the summer and the club were expected to spend big as a result. Mourinho wanted the club to strengthen in a number of positions. They signed striker Tammy Abraham from Chelsea on a permanent deal worth €40 million.
Their second most expensive signing of the summer was Eldor Shomurodov of Genoa who cost them €17.5 million. Left-back Matias Vina was roped in from Palmeiras for €13 million. Roma also signed Portugal's first-choice goalkeeper Rui Patricio from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a sum of €11.5 million.
They also completed the signings of Roger Ibanez and Bryan Reynolds for €9 million and €6,75 million respectively. Right-back Alessandro Florenzi has been sent on loan to AC Milan for a loan fee of €1 million. Cengiz Under and Pau Lopez have also been shipped out on loan for a combined sum of €1.2 million.
#2 Manchester United (-€109.9 million)
While a section of fans are frustrated about the fact that the club did not sign a defensive midfielder, Manchester United fared well this transfer window. A net spend of -€109.9 million won't blow a hole in the finances of a club of United's stature.
They signed Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund for €85 million. Centre-back Raphael Varane cost them €40 million. To top it all off, they signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus on a deal worth just €15 million.
On the departure side, Andreas Pereira was shipped out on loan to Flamengo for a fee of €1 million. Daniel James was sold to Leeds United on a permanent basis for €29.1 million. All in all, it was a satisfactory transfer window for the Red Devils.
#1 Arsenal (-€134 million)
Arsenal sold Joe Willock to Newcastle United for €29.4 million. They also got €1.5 million as loan fee for Lucas Torreira from Fiorentina. Yet, their net expenditure stands at -€134 million. What's worse? After three Premier League gameweeks, Arsenal are 20th in the table.
The Gunners spent €58.5 million on Ben White. They also made Martin Odegaard's loan move from Real Madrid permanent for a sum of €35 million. Aaron Ramsdale was brought in as a back up to Bernd Leno and he cost Arsenal €28 million.
Arsenal signed yet another centre-back Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna for €18.6 million. Albert Sambi Lokonga was signed from Anderlecht for €17.5 million and Nuno Tavares was roped in from Benfica for €8 million.
It's true that the Gunners have spent more than any other club this summer transfer window. However, the choice of personnel for the amount of money they've dished out is rather questionable.
Fans' frustrations are starting to boil over due to the fact that the on-field results have continued to be poor despite all the money that has been spent.
